On Tuesday, the Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to China at the end of August and beginning of September.
Why Putin is traveling to China
The trip is to deepen their relationship in reciprocation to Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia this week to attend festivities marking Victory Day in World War II.
Putin’s foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov told reporters that the visit will be part of a ‘good tradition,’ in which Xi visits Moscow to attend celebrations of Russia’s defeat over Nazi Germany in May 1945, and Putin in return will travel to China to attend events marking the Allied defeat of Japan.
Ushakov confirmed, ‘This was the case 10 years ago, in 2015, and this will be the case this year.’
On September 3, China will host an event marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, which China refers to as ‘the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.’
In 2015, China marked the 70th anniversary of its role in the defeat of Japan with a massive military parade involving more than 12,000 troops, 500 pieces of military equipment and 200 military aircraft.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry earlier this year announced that China and Russia would jointly mark this year’s anniversary.
Russia – China Relationship
After launching what Putin called a ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine, Russia has become increasingly dependent economically on China.
China’s increased trade with Russia has helped the country mitigate some of the worst blows from the sanctions as Russia diverts.the bulk of its energy exports to China and relied on Chinese companies to import high-tech components for Russian military industries to circumvent Western sanctions.
